Training Section 

Commitment to Training

The Burlington Police Department is committed to providing current, relevant, and high-quality training for all law enforcement officers and police service personnel. We believe in and are committed to the development and delivery of innovative training and education programs based on the best and most current industry standards, and in accordance with the 21st Century policing tenets. This is accomplished by delivering a robust yearly training schedule that includes in-service training, tactical training, critical issues in policing updates, de-escalation training, impartial bias recognition training, juvenile sensitivity training, critical decision-making skills, and reality-based scenario training. 

The department continually evaluates the training needs of the agency based on national policing trends, current performance of employees, state-mandated topics, and many other factors that contribute to the continued success of employee performance in the organization. 

The Training Section is responsible for the coordination and scheduling of all training for the Burlington Police Department. This sections is also responsible for maintaining all law enforcement certifications required to provide the highest quality police services within the City of Burlington. Below are some of the highlighted trainings Burlington Police Department staff receive: 

Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) - The Burlington Police Department works collaboratively with Cardinal Innovations (the regional mental health provider) to teach Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) multiple times each year. CIT is both a program and training method to help guide interactions between law enforcement and those who experience crises associated with mental illness, stress, and developmental disabilities.

Mental Health First Aid - Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour course that teaches employees how to help someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis. The training helps identify, understand, and respond to signs of addictions and mental illnesses. All newly hired employees are required to attend this course during their first year of employment.

Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) - Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics, or ICAT, is a use-of-force Training Guide designed to fill a critical gap in training police officers how to respond to volatile situations in which subjects are behaving erratically and often dangerously but do not possess a firearm. The Training Guide includes model lesson plans in the key areas of decision-making, crisis recognition and response, tactical communications and negotiations, and operational safety tactics. ICAT integrates these skills and provides opportunities to practice them through video case studies and scenario-based training exercises.

Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) – The Burlington Police Department was the first agency in the country to deliver this training to its entire agency. Georgetown Law Center, in partnership with the global law firm Sheppard Mullin, created the ABLE program to prepare officers to successfully intervene to prevent harm and to create a law enforcement culture that support peer intervention. The purpose of the program is to reduce unnecessary harm to civilians and officers, reduce the risk of officers losing their careers, reduce the risk of lawsuits against the department, city, and officers. By delivering this program the Burlington Police Department hopes to improve public relations, improve officer health and wellness, increase job satisfaction, and improve citizen satisfaction with the agency.

Advanced Facilities

Burlington Police and Fire Training Center - The Burlington Police and Fire Training Center is a 10+ acre facility that offers advanced equipment and structures to conduct officer training. Within the facility there is a driving pad, 3 training classrooms, 2 firearms ranges with integrated turning targets, a virtual simulator, and much more. The training center is also host to Alamance Community College’s Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) program. Annually, ACC conducts 2-3 BLET classes for those seeking to become law enforcement officers.

Belmont Training Facility (BTF) – The Belmont Training Facility is a 40,000 square foot facility that houses a fully outfitted gym and subject control room. This facility is used by officers to prepare for annual physical fitness testing of the Police Officers Physical Abilities Test (POPAT) and is considered one of the best in the state. This facility is also used by ACC’s BLET program for physical fitness training and testing.